Industrial apparatus, method, and product



Feb. 13, 1962 Filed Jan. 17. 1957 3,620,363 INDUSTRIAL APPARATUS, METHOD, AND PRODUCT John E. Smith, Norristown, Pan, assignor to James Lees and Sons Company, Bridgeport, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 17, 1957, Ser. No. 634,786

Claims. (Cl. 112-79) This invention relates to tufting machines and methods for fabricating pile fabrics of the floor covering type.

More particularly the invention pertains to the methodv and apparatus for selectively providing variable height tufts in a cut pile tufted carpet.

The ability to provide variable pile heights in a tufted carpet in accordance with a predetermined pattern is well known in the case of uncut or loop pile fabric. This so called pattern tufting is usually done by pulling back a previously formed loop after it has been released from the looper so that it is drawn down below higher loops in a high pile area. In the case of cut pile, however, this procedure cannot be employed because a plurality of loops are retained on the looper until they are severed by the cutting means. Since the loops are retained by the looper at a constant height, no substantial variation in their length can be achieved. Furthermore, once the loops are cut, it is obviously impossible to pull back previously stitched pile yarns. It has been unexpectedly discovered, however, that it is possible to vary the length of the tuft legs in a manner sufficient to change the appearance of the pile surface even though the loops are all cut.

A primary object of the invention, therefore, is to provide means for controlling the relative height of pile tufts in a cut pile tufted fabric.

A further object is to provide a method for fabricating a tufted pile fabric in which the height of selected pile turts is controlled in accordance with a pre-determined pattern.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a tufting pile fabric in which selected pile tufts are lower than adjoining pile tufts.

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and drawings in which FIG. 1 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of a section of tufted carpet in which the cut pile tufts of one type or color are higher than adjoining tufts of a different type or color,

FIG. 2 is a view showing either a different area in the same row of stitches as shown in FIG. 1 or it also represents an adjoining row of stitches in which the two types of tufts are reversed,

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a tufting machine constructed in accordance with the present invention,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail showing the manner in which the relative height of the tufts is controlled, and

FIG. 5 is a sectional detail as seen at 55 of FIG. 4.

The invention comprises essentially the control of separate pile yarns which are each threaded through the eye of the same tufting needles. The yarns preferably are of contrasting color or twist in order to enhance the pattern effect. One of the yarns is fed to the tufting machine and the needle at a constant controlled tension so that the height of all tufts formed from this yarn are substantially the same. The other yarn is controlled by a pattern tensioning means so that the tension on this yarn is selectively increased or decreased in accordance with the pattern control device. While it is not essential that each of the yarnsbe threaded through the eye of the same or every needle in a multiple needle tufting machine, I have found that it is desirable to thread the 3,020,863 Fatented Feb. 13, 1962 machine in this manner because the relative difference in tuft height is of necessity only a fraction of the height of the tuft leg in a cut pile fabric, so that the best effect is achieved when the pile yarns of contrasting color are each threaded through the same needles.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a conventional cut pile tufting machine as shown in FIG. 3 has a needle bar designated at 8 to which there are secured a plurality of tufting needles 9 by means of setscrews 10. The needle bar oscilaltes vertically to provide pile yarns P on the underside of a backing fabric F which I is intermittently fed over needle plate 11 and under stripper bar or presser foot 12. A looper 13 is mounted on a looper bar 14 which oscilaltes in timed relation with the needle bar 8 by means of suitable control mechanism through a shaft 15. The knife 16 is mounted on a second oscillating shaft 17 and is positioned to sever the foremost loops which have been picked up on looper 13. The above mechanism for manufacturing cut pile tufted fabrics is conventional in the art and a more detailed description thereof is, therefore, believed to be unnecessary.

The pile yarns Y and Y are fed to the tufting machine from a creel, not shown, through constant speed control means 20. From thence the yarns Y proceed through a stationary yarn guide 21 and over constant speed feed rolls 22 and 23 which are drivingly engaged with each other through meshing gears 24 and 25. Yarns 'Y, are then led to each needle 9 through a series of yarn guides 26, 27, and 28. The other yarns Y are fed through yarn guide 21 and thence to an intermittent yarn trol means 31, the yarns Y are likewise carried through stationary guides 26, 27, and 28 to the needles 9. The operation of such a pattern tension device is described in my co-pending applications Serial No. 569,308, now Patent No. 2,782,905, and Serial No. 464,588, now Patent No. 2,782,741.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, it will be understood that the tension in yarns Y remains constant for any setting of the feed rolls 22 and 23. Therefore, the height of tufts T T (FIGS. land 2) remains the same. It has been found, surprisingly enough however, that if a second yarn is fed through the same needle 9 and permited to run through the needle under little or no tension, the tufts T T made therefrom can be controlled to be noticeably longer than the tufts T T formed from yarns Y When the solenoids 33 are energized to provide maximum tension on selected yarns Y this apparently has the eifect of stretching the length of yarns over the looper so that when they are cut by knives 16, the relaxed and contracted tufts will be substantially shorter than tufts T This efiect is shown in FIG. 2. It will be understood that a pattern attachment such as shown in the above applications or any other well-known vari' ety is employed to selectively control the tension in certain of the pile yarns Y in accordance with a predetermined pattern. Therefore, for any given row of transverse tufts all of the solenoids 33 will not be simultaneously actuated unless the pattern callsfor a uniform tuft height across the fabric.

As a result of this method of controlling the tension in a cut pile tufting machine, it is possible to completely change the color and, therefore, appearance in any given selected face area. When yarns Y and Y are of contrasting color and the pattern device is operated to provide maximum tension on yarns Y the predominating color in this area as shown in FIG. 2 will be that of yarns Y On the other hand, when the tension in yarns then the predominating color in these areas will be that of yarns Y and tufts T; as shown in FIG. 1. To describe the effect achieved somewhat differently, the relative heights of tufts T in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be considered to be those of maximum tension in FIG. 2 and of minimum tension in FIG. 1, whereas the constant height of tufts T in both FIGS. 1 and 2 represents the application of a median or intermediate tension as applied to yarns V Even greater contrast can be achieved by judicious selection of the yarns Y with regard to twist and extensibility under tension. In other words, a yarn having a relatively high ability to be elongated under tension and then to contract when the tension is relaxed will enable very unusual and novel effects to be achieved in a cut pile tufted fabric which have not heretofore been possible. The contrasting yarns Y and Y should be maintained in close relationship to obtain the maximum effect. This is partly due to the inherent nature of a tufted pile carpet which, as currently produced, must make pile in every row as the tufting operation advances. In other words, unlike the Wilton carpet, there are no dead yarns carried in or on the back. Consequently, I prefer to thread both yarns through each needle. However, the size of the yarns must be such that, with respect to the size of the needle eye, there is little or no tension robbing from one yarn to the other. Such undesirable characteristic could be eliminated if the yarns Y and Y are threaded in alternate needles or in separate eyes 34 and 35 of the same needle. However, depending upon the gage of the machine, the pile height, and type of yarns, this might not provide as noticeable a difference in the appearance as can be achieved with threading both yarns through the same needle.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of fabricating a cut pile tufted fabrics to provide pattern areas which comprises stitching a first series of pile yarns and a second series of pile yarns simultaneously through a backing fabric, one of said series of yarns being under constant tension and the other series of yarns being under variable tension with one of said series of yarns being under a greater tension than the other of said series of yarns, holding said first and second series of pile yarns on looper means, simultaneously cutting both of said series of yarns on one side of the backing fabric while said yarns are held under their respective tensions on said looper means, whereby the yarn series under greater tension when out will relax and contract to produce tufts of a length less than the tufts formed from the other yarn series.

2. The method of fabricating a cut pile tufted fabric to provide pattern areas which comprises stitching a first series of pile yarns and a second series of pile yarns on the same series of needle means simultaneously through a backing fabric, one of said series of yarns being under constant tension and the other series of yarns being under variable tension with one of said series of yarns being under a greater tension than the other of said series of yarns, holding said first and second series of pile yarns on looper means, simultaneously cutting both of said series of yarns on one side of the backing fabric while said yarns are held under their respective tensions on said looper means, whereby the yarn series under greater tension when cut will relax and contract to produce tufts of a length less than the tufts formed from the other yarn series.

3. The method of fabricating a cut pile tufted fabric to provide pattern areas which comprises stitching a first series of pile yarn and a second series of pile yarn simultaneously through a backing fabric, one of said series of yarns being under constant tension and the other series of yarns being under variable tension, the tension of said series of yarns under constant tension being greater than the said series of yarns under variable tension, holding said first and second series of pile yarns on looper means, simultaneously cutting both of said series of yarns on one side of the backing fabric while said yarns are held under their respective tensions on said looper means, whereby the yarn series under constant tension when cut will relax and contract to produce tufts of a length less than the tufts formed from the series of yarns under variable tension.

4. The method of fabricating a cut pile tufted fabric to provide pattern areas which comprises stitching a first series of pile yarn and a second series of pile yarn simultaneously through a backing fabric, one of said series of yarns being under constant tension and the other series of yarns being under variable tension, the tension of said series of yarns under variable tension being greater than the said series of yarns under constant tension, holding said first and second series of pile yarns on looper means, simultaneously cutting both of said series of yarns on one side of the backing fabric while said yarns are held under their respective tensions on said looper means, whereby the yarn series under variable tension when cut will relax and contract to produce tufts of a length less than the tufts formed from the series of yarns under constant tension.

5. A cut pile carpet tufting machine having a needle plate over which a length of backing fabric is fed, a bank of oscillating needles for inserting pile yarns through said backing fabric, first feeding means for feeding a first series of pile yarn to needles under constant tension, second feeding means for simultaneously feeding a second series of pile yarns to the same needles under a variable tension, the yarns fed from one of said feeding means being under a greater tension than the yarn from the other of said feeding means, means including looper means for receiving the first and second series of pile yarns and cutting means for holding and cutting the loops of pile yarn formed from said first and second series of pile yarns while said yarns are held under their respective tensions, whereby the yarns under greater tension, when cut, will relax and contract to produce tufts of a length less than the tufts formed from the other yarns under lesser tension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,042,503 Carter June 2, 1936 2,578,242 Hamby Dec. 11, 1951 2,696,181 Lacey Dec. 7, 1954 2,782,741 Smith Feb. 26, 1957 2,784,688 Ebersold Mar. 12, 1957 2,784,689 MacCaffray Mar. 12, 1957 2,804,835 Janney et a1. Sept. 3, 1957 2,810,471 Shattuck Oct. 22, 1957 2,818,037 McNutt Dec. 31, 1957 2,862,465 Card Dec. 2, 1958 2,875,714 Nix Mar. 3, 1959 2,879,728 McCutchen Mar. 31, 1959 2,879,729 McCutchen Mar. 31, 1959 2,882,845 Hoeselbarth Apr. 21, 1959 2,884,881 Oberholtzer May 5, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,111 Great Britain of 1891 6,792 Great Britain of 1902 635,817 Great Britain Apr. 19, 1950 

